Sophie Calle is a conceptual artist and photographer from France whose work explores themes of identity, memory, and emotional vulnerability. Her 2007 series Take Care of Yourself was inspired by a breakup email she received from a lover. Rather than respond herself, Calle invited 107 women from different professions—such as a lawyer, dancer, actress, and psychologist—to interpret the letter through their own lenses. The resulting photographs and texts form a powerful emotional archive, capturing how a single experience can be reflected in countless ways.

This series relates closely to the theme of reflections, both in the literal sense of seeing oneself through others and in the metaphorical sense of processing emotion over time. Each woman’s interpretation acts as a mirror, showing not only Calle’s emotional state but also how personal pain can be refracted through professional and cultural identities. The project also holds deeper cultural context: rooted in French intellectual and feminist traditions, it challenges the idea of private grief by turning it into a shared, performative, and analytical act.

Mood Board

Statement of Intent

This set of photos is based on the songs “Price of Perfection” and “Top of My School” by Katherine Lynn-Rose and Lilanne Coeverden. The idea behind these songs is that the person feels like they need to be perfect, to be the best and that academics and medals are the most important thing, the idea of never feeling enough. Using selective colours, different test scores and medals I hope to be able to capture the idea of choosing academic/athletic success over having and maintaining strong friendships throughout your school life.  

Photo 1.  

• The light in the photo is the only edit, making the colour much more prominent. The center glare of the light helps bring the focus to the model’s arms. Her arms are leading lines because as you follow the arm silhouettes starting at the bottom and all the way up, you end up looking at her fingertips 

• The photo is the better version of one of my experimental photos, because this one contains other parts of her body not only a silhouette of her head. Adding the hands/arms into the light makes the model look more interesting, and the pose that she’s striking is based on a pose that was on the cover of Vogue 

• Like many of the experimental photos, there’s plenty of negative space. The model seems to be coming out of nowhere as the darkness swallows her body before emerging, being able to see just the top of her head and her arms.  

Photo 2.  

• This photo has been tinted, making it a pinker/orangey rather than a burnt orange yellow. The brightness has almost completely been reduced, and the colour has been turned up so there’s a bigger emphasis on the lighting colour. The lighting adds a different kind of aesthetic, a more vintage/romantic one because it’s a pinker/orangey light rather than just an orange light.  

• The model is kind of just standing there, and there is no motion to the photo which makes it seem a bit plain. But the simplicity of the photo is a good match for the model because he’s not as outgoing as the previous model. This photo matches the way that the model is, just as the previous photo matched the model.  

• The photo is slightly off centered, which would be fine if that was intentional, but it was a mistake on my part while taking the photo and it leaves the image unbalanced. The photo has been significantly cropped, removing a large part of the negative space which is now a reoccurring theme in these photos.  

Photo 3.  

• This photo is one of the prettier photos, edited so the bright yellow can contrast with the black butterflies even more. With the vivid warm filter on and an added warmth with the neutral gray the photo looks even more sunset like and aesthetically pleasing. It’s cropped super closely, that way the butterflies fill more of the screen.  

• It’s centered around the biggest butterfly, which is in the center of the image, and has many smaller butterflies dotted around. Each of these smaller butterflies holds their own square if you were to divide the image into 9 squares. They aren’t exactly placed the same around the butterfly, but they are placed a distance apart that ensures the space doesn’t feel empty or too crowded. The positioning makes the photo feel really balanced.  

Photo 4.  

• This photo uses the dramatic warm filter, in addition to a decrease in the brightness and an increase of sharpness to create a vintage look. The rose in hand creates an interesting silhouette due to its fragility. The filter cause’s the male model’s arm to look significantly paler, especially in comparison to the female model’s arm which looks almost completely black.  
• The idea behind the image is that the two people are romantically involved, and the male is gifting the female the flower. The angle of the hands is intentional, the female’s hand angled upwards reaching for the male and the male’s hand not angled towards the female’s, waiting for her to reach out first.  

Photo 5.  

• This is the pairing photo to the previous rose photo. Using the same filter, a main difference in the editing is the brightness and colouring are on opposite ends of the slide rather than the same. Brightness is toned down, and the colouring has been increased slightly. RGB curve is curving downwards, which also brings the brightness of the photo down.  

• The transfer of the rose to the hand of the female shows how she accepted it. The hands are still in a similar position, with the male hand still higher than the female hand. The male hand is pointed downwards at the female hand, as if it still wishes to touch her hand as she holds the rose. It reminds me of the poster of the musical Hadestown.  

Photo 6. 

• The filter on this photo is vivid warm, with the colour and lighting both decreased the same amount. Both of these changes make the photo seem sunset taken, similarly edited to the many of the previous photos. These photos are all edited so similarly because not only does it look aesthetically pleasing, but they were also taken in similar ways.  

• The two models have their pinky fingers intertwined as though making a promise. The idea behind the photo is that the two people are again, romantically involved, and they’re promising each other something. Having only the hands in view makes the image more impactful, makes the image more relatable because there’s no face to match the promise. It could be anyone making that promise, it could be you.  

Photo 1.  

• Centered around the shadow that is reflected upon the backdrop from both the light patterns and the model  

• Biggest changes from the original photo are the enhanced colour hues – turning the slight blue glare from the light into purple – and the lighting which makes the photo lighter 

• Key use of rule of thirds with regards to the positioning of the model and use of shapes in the photograph – the lines of the shadows and the model’s shadow all contribute to the use of shapes 

Photo 2.  

• Edited much lighter than the previous photo, colour contrasting between the shadows and the bright light that shines through the gaps, along with the colours that are made when the two contrast 

• The photo is cropped so that the focus remains on the shadows and light instead of any extra people/items that may be in the photo 

• The shadows take up most of the space which helps reduce any unwanted negative space while still creating a sort of natural frame around the subject 

Photo 3.  

• My personal favourite photo because of the way that the photo was edited the colours remind me of the Disney movie The Lion King and that sort of aesthetic. Plus, the blurry photo is more fun than a regular still photo, it helps add movement and motion  

• The silhouette is created by placing a big light behind the model and making the light bright enough to cancel out any other features that you may see on the model’s face 

• The brightness has been turned fully down whilst the colour has been turned all the way up. The light is not a white light, even in the original so using selective colour it’s been turned to a deeper orange rather than the original yellow that it was 

Photo 4.  

• Bare minimum has been changed in this photo – only changing it to black & white and the lightning being turned up fully 

• This photo was an attempt to make a silhouette like the previous photo, the main issue being the light was too small which I then adjusted in the next shots.  

• There’s lots of negative space in this photo which I like because lots of the photos I take have other objects in the environment around it and the studio is very different to the regular places where I take photos and it’s a change of pace. Negative space in this photo is super important because you could label it as something like “Loneliness” and all that empty space would be considered the abyss between the model and other people.  

Photo 5.  

• This photo also has the bare minimum changes – black & white changes and the RGB curve is slightly higher. Although this image doesn’t have any colour it changed the brightness to make the photo lighter  

• This photo was taken from lying down on the ground, under the model. It gave the photo a change of perspective and it let people see the areas where the light hit the model differently 

• The model’s face is mostly covered, and it’s difficult to see many parts of it. The visible parts of it include her eye, which is not quite looking at the camera but the white dot in her eye makes it seem like she is. The light in her eye is super powerful because it’s a reflection from the camera and if there wasn’t any light on her face it would’ve been super easy to emphasize that light.  

Photo 6.  

• This photo is also composed similarly to the previous one, the only big difference is that the model is looking at the camera this time. The look at the camera is not a happy one, it’s more of a displeased face which makes you feel like you’re being looked down upon.  

• The light and colour are at opposite ends of the line, light being on the darker side and colour being on the lighter side. This means that the colour contrasts with the light, making it stand out more. The RGB curve is quite large for this photo, but it helps emphasize the colours more, especially the prism of colours reflected off of her glasses.  

• The facial expressions on her face and the angle of the photo remind me of that one moment in any type of anime where the characters decide to lock in and be serious about something. They look intimidating and then scare whoever they’re looking at 

Photo 7.  

• This photo needed very little adjustment in order to follow the theme previously mentioned with photo 4. Having her leg up on the chair and looking sad helps add to the “emotional distressed teenager” vibe that Mr. Stewart dislikes so much. I think that having Maggie model for this is good because it contrasts with the usual character that is seen. The shy but also lively, funny and outgoing person put into the role of a distressed teenager gives the character have a deeper level to it, making it a more complexed figure 

• The model almost completely blends in with the background, as if she’s being swallowed by the darkness, the loneliness. The negative space adds to that dramatic atmosphere, enhancing the emotional feelings 

Name: You’re Losing Me 

This photo uses different techniques to embody the song, “You’re Losing Me”, and brings the feelings of aching distance and personal unknowing to life. Starting with the droplets of water on the mirror which somewhat distort the image of Andy, reinforcing the song’s theme of uncertainty and emotional distance. The droplets themselves can be seen as representing the emotional weight and sadness that has been inflicted, which connects with the songs sense of overwhelming about of emotional troubles. The person in the distance helps represent the feelings of fading connections, much like the song’s constant reminder of the loss of love. The monochrome colour palette helps convey the feelings of raw emotion, with the lack of colour supporting the troubles of emotional isolation and feeling alone in this troublesome time.  

Name: Right Where You Left Me 

The photo portrays the emotions and narration of the song “Right Where You Left Me,” perfectly with different photography techniques and elements. The water droplets that cover the reflective surface add both texture to the photo and emotional weight. The water blurs the reflective surface and in turn the subject in the reflection which helps reinforce the themes of disconnection, longing and loss of time. The photo also uses soft focus and the depth of field to make the subject feel unreal – like it’s a memory rather than a present event. The glass can represent a barrier between reality and the subject, just like the perspective of the lyrics in the song. With the sharpness of the photo being focused on the water droplets contrasts with the blurriness of the reflection – especially the reflection of the person – mimics the lyrics, “I stayed there, dust collected on my pinned-up hair,” from the song that shows how the person is stuck in time, being more and more irrelevant while the rest of the world continues on in full detail.  

Name: Mirrorball 

This photograph utilizes the use of the mirror reflection and monochrome to portray the song “Mirrorball” and all of its emotional baggage. Starting with the use of the mirror, which is often used to add layers to photos, it caught Andy’s reflection at an angle that emphasizes introspection and self-perception. With the mirror’s tilted angle creating an off-centered reflection or a fragmented representation of the subject, which perfectly parallels the lyrics of the narrator’s shifting identity in the song. The use of the mirror also adds to the effect of wanting to be seen but also feeling isolated in the visibility in the song. Being framed in a mirror, Andy is both on display but also distanced from reality just as the narrator in the song. The song captures a longing to remain relevant, to keep “shining just for you,” despite being fragile. With Andy’s body language, looking away from the reflection as though he is insecure about himself and the frail branches of the trees in the background the photo also reflects this balance.  

Mood board

Statement of Intent:

When my audience looks at these set of pictures, through the use of a monochrome colour scheme, I want them to feel a sense of calm but also the feeling of longing. My inspiration for this collection is Saul Leiter, as his work with windows and water really helped me get an idea of how I wanted to take these photos.